4 Impressionable

The vicious slamming of the door woke up Elle. She roused swiftly, immediately discovering Ezekiel's disappearance. Panicking, she sat up and looked at where the noise came from.

There, Ezekiel rested against the door, his breath out of sync. He cut a striking figure, with his black slacks and loose blue collared dress shirt giving him the appearance of a business man coming home after a long day of work.

A twinge pierced Elle's heart and a smile rose to her lips. It looked like Ezekiel really was trying to be responsible. He couldn't stay outside for long, although it wasn't because of heights or the fact that he stayed here after graduating high school, like Elle thought.

Elle did not recognize the expression on Ezekiel's sweaty face. She never remembered his face scrunching up in such seriousness, like he was determined to change the world. She admitted he'd never looked so handsome, almost akin to an investigative journalist. The contrast between his young, clean-shaven face and his expression made her head spin!

It especially warmed her heart to see her own marks on his neck, like she truly claimed him in body and soul.

While she had such… flattering thoughts about Ezekiel, the man himself planned to strike back at StrangerDanger. It didn't matter whether or not she was his fan. What mattered was that she was a danger to his personal life and others at large.

He affirmed this resolution in his heart and clenched his hands into fists.

"Eze?" called out Elle. "What's with the outfit?"

Ezekiel shifted his focus on the sensual form of Elle under his ratty blanket. His determination skyrocketed, but his grip softened. It was his life with her that he needed to protect.

"Elle. I promise you, I'll be responsible for you. I'm your boyfriend, and if I can't be responsible, I'll be pathetic."

"Where's that coming from?" Elle laughed. "It's not like we know if I'm pregnant. Stop being so serious. Everything will be fine."

"But—"

"Fine, how about this? You already have a driver's license, so you can use my car. I'll add you to my insurance, and it'll cost me more, but you can pay me back later. For now, prepare a resumé and you can search for a job nearby. You don't need to rush things. We're still young."

Ezekiel's eyes dampened and he calmed down, having heard Elle's caring words.

"Alright. I'll do my best."

Elle's smile widened.

"Good. I'll cleanup, so feel free to ask me for help if you need it."

Ezekiel's expression darkened.

"Yeah, sure. I promise, if I need it."

Elle slipped out of the covers and gathered her things. She went to his bathroom while Ezekiel checked his phone.

There were no new messages in the chat group yet. It looked like it was cleared from the other night.

Ezekiel decided it was best to use the time now to prepare for the future.

He shut off the annoying radio he ignored before. Then, he searched his plastic drawer unit for anything special to add to his resumé. There was his student dictionary and his books from English class, like 1984. There also were two more outfits. He found his birth certificate and social security card among his important documents.

Ezekiel checked his faded backpack atop the drawer unit, but found nothing but junk. Then, he remembered that he never did anything in high school and wasn't outstanding at all. It was pointless from the start.

Feeling ashamed, he pulled over the foldable metal chair leaning against the wall and sat it in front of the short, plastic foldable table.

There was a monitor on the table, leaving a small space for two tiny speakers, a keyboard, and a mouse. Resting on the keyboard, a lapel mic added to the mess of cables. Under the table was a computer in a plastic bin to separate it from the bland grey carpeting. Next to it laid a phone camera stand.

"Boot up the computer. Wait for it to load. Password. Now, open up a document. Template, hm, resumé, yeah. Then—"

Ezekiel's phone vibrated. He saw the bathroom door was closed and heard the shower running.

"It must be her."

The message was from StrangerDanger.

"Tell the landlady to leave your room after making you lunch. I know she's in there," it read. "You need to make sure she doesn't know about any of this. Remember, you're a small fish in a big sea. We all might gobble you up if you act up, you know!?~"

"Gobble me up?" Ezekiel hissed under his breath. "Eat my foot, for all I care! I'm not a child. I'm a grown man. You're going to pay for underestimating me. I will protect Elle with my life, if I have to!"

Filled with conviction, he replied back, "K."

His phone vibrated again and received the message, "Wow, you really are a childish idiot. Get ready to leave after lunch. We're going together, you know? To a hotel room nearby? Don't get your hopes up, but it's a surprise!"

Ezekiel growled and exited the app.

"We'll see who's in for a surprise."

Time stopped for no one.

Elle eventually came out of the bathroom and went to make lunch. Although she was disappointed when discovering he didn't want to eat with her, she realized it wouldn't be bad if Ezekiel grew up a little. So, she went to her room to call up her insurance company and add him to her plan. There was research to do before preparing him for the workplace.

StrangerDanger took full advantage of this situation. Now, she was talking with the other ProTubers.

"The landlady is the type of woman to never focus beyond her priorities," RespectMyAuthority told the others. "Since the time she joined our group, she did not see any personal danger from us "participants" in person or in our ProTube videos."

"She does film herself beating up thugs, you know?" replied StrangerDanger. "That's why I'm asking for more ideas to mess with our toy. I know we can't hurt her, but I can't stand her playing sweet and taking all the fun herself."

"I abstain," RespectMyAuthority texted. "But I'll watch."

"Me too," DontGetTooCocky added.

"I'm not sure that's the real reason," doubted BeautifulWifeToBe. "Are you sure this isn't jealousy?"

"I can sense your pain, Stranger," LivingToSeekDeath perceived. "You must let your feelings die or kill the root of the problem. Anything else will lead to suffering."

"What?! Before, you all were in on this!"

"I was kidding," DontGetTooCocky said.

"I wanted you to suck up to me more," RespectMyAuthority admitted.

"I was bored," LivingToSeekDeath commented.

"The drama was fun!" BeautifulWifeToBe frivolously stated.

"Traitors!!!"

StrangerDanger wanted to cry. Their plan for revenge ended at blackmailing Ezekiel to go to a hotel room with her.

"Don't worry, StrangerDanger! I'll always be on your side!" WhyPyonWhenYouCanPyro? typed.

"Pyro…"

"Stranger…"

"You two are fools," RespectMyAuthority interrupted. "Why haven't we caused any trouble for the landlady for almost two years? Why do we pay her a premium price for rent? She's our protector, but she can also kill us at any time."

"Stranger, you're my master when it comes to courting death," joked LivingToSeekDeath.

"How a crazy idiot like you managed to survive or even gathered us together…" DontGetTooCocky complained. "I won't be surprised if you get fucked up."

"Don't give up, Stranger!" encouraged WhyPyonWhenYouCanPyro? "I've got a plan. You've got candles, right?"

"Yeah, I light scented candles to relax after working at the salon. What good are candles?"

"Hehehehe. Put some candles and something to light them in a bag. I'll teach you how to use it later. When you break him down, massage him down and get to his butt. And then, hehehe... If you make him addicted to this kind of play, you'll ruin him for the landlady forever!"

"Pyro, uh. Your dominatrix stuff is um, maybe too much? I don't want to touch that place. I'd rather burn him than be so unclean."

"..."

StrangerDanger exited ProTube, ready to play with Ezekiel. She had usual outfit on, face mask and all. She also carried her bag and her phone with her. A cameraman waited at the hotel room, so she notified Ezekiel already.

The problem was that he was taking his time.

Annoyed at his behavior, she lightly knocked on his apartment door.

"Psssst," she whispered. "You better come on out, or else!"

She knocked again, but got no response.

"Psssssst!!! Hey!"

She tried the doorknob and it turned without resistance.

"Is it already open?" she asked herself. "He must be taking a nap or something."

She opened the door.

In that moment, Ezekiel pounced!

His hand pulled her arm in, making her fall forward. His other hand shut and lock the door in an instant. As StrangerDanger hit the ground, Ezekiel dropped on her back!

She was pinned to the ground, with Ezekiel's legs crushing down on her arms!

"Oweoeoe, ow! Ow! Get off of me!" she hissed, struggling futilely to get free. "H-heavy! I can't breathe!"

Ezekiel pulled her arms underneath her body and turned around to keep his feet on them.

"No. Not until you explain some things to me."

Ezekiel pulled out his phone and started recording her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm... your master!"

"Master, my foot!"

Ezekiel swung his palm out! His hand made contact with her pliant and compact buttocks!

"Eeeeeii!! Wh-why did you... hoop...slap my butt! That hurts, you know!"

"Answer the question! Who are you!"

"Just wait... heup… until I get up! I'll show you—"

His hand slapped her once again!

"Gyaaah!" she whimpered.

"Who are you!"

The combined effects of difficulty breathing and flaring pain made her consider answering.

"Answer me!" Ezekiel growed.

"Okay," she gasped, intimidated at the reversal of the situation. "Alleen… heef… Alleen… Kühn…"

"Good. Now, who else works with you?"

"My… huah… camera… man… and Pyro…" StrangerDanger—no, Alleen sputtered.

"Where are they?"

"...huaa… hotel…"

"What were you going to do?"

"Make you… haaah… a toy… make you… feel pain…"

"Why do this?"

"You were… mine… first… keuh…"

Alleen slipped into unconsciousness and her body fell limp.

"What's ProTube?" Ezekiel asked, but received no response..

"Hey! Stop playing around!"

Frustrated at her, he gave her butt another smack! It sent a shock through it, causing the buttcheek to jiggle down to her thigh!

"Hey! H-hey?" he asked hesitantly.

Ezekiel nervously stopped the recording and checked on Alleen. He pulled down her face mask and then grabbed her face. She wasn't exhaling.

"Oh, nooooo. Ooooh, nooooo!!! She's not breathing!"

Ezekiel flipped her onto his legs and opened her jacket. He laid a hand over her heart. Through her shirt, a faint, but fading heartbeat made its presence known.

"CPR… how to… damn it!!"

He disregarded any thoughts and lifted her head onto his knees. He leaned over her face.

"I won't be a murderer!" he promised himself.

Ezekiel pressed his mouth against hers, opening a passage to blow. He huffed once and then checked her breathing.

No response.

He huffed again.

No response.

"Don't die on me!"

Ezekiel continued breathing air into her.

Gradually, Alleen's body circulated the oxygen.

"Cough, cough!"

"Yes!" he exclaimed in relief. "You better live, Alleen!"

He administered once last huff of air into her mouth.

By now, he learned she was breathing again.

Her eyes fluttered open and she took rapid and deep breaths. Conscious once more, Alleen noticed Ezekiel and glared at him.

"I can't believe you nearly killed me! I said you were heavy, you know!"

Tears fell from her eyes and she sobbed.

"I-I'm sorry."

Somehow, he became the bad guy in the situation. It was absurd and unreasonable to him, but then again, he nearly took a life. There were better ways to interrogate her, and he still chose that method to make Alleen suffer for what she put him through.

"...Idiot."

"Huh? Wanna die?"

"Waaah! No, I'm sorry!"

For some reason, she really got him riled up. If Ezekiel didn't properly control himself, he actually might kill her for real. This fact shocked him, and yet, it coerced Alleen into submission. He wasn't so domineering before, and so this change confused him.

"Don't kill me, please! I'll do anything!"

Having been so close to death traumatized her. She meekly laid in Ezekiel's lap.

"Alright. You better work for me like you mean it."

Ezekiel decided he understood why he did it.

Alleen was just the type of person who enraged people that interacted with her directly. There was some essence about her that couldn't be caught by filming her.

Sometimes, there were unnatural things that came naturally.